Makin bows aint no different than any other type of woodworking in this respect; the object is to remove unwanted wood to arrive at your end product (dont matter if that is furniture, art sculpture, or bows). The other fellas were trying to convey a sense of "gettin in touch with the wood" and that is also true. working with it is way better than fighting it.
Having said that I really believe that if the ancients had access to bandsaws, power sanders and the like they would have readily and with great glee accepted them with open arms. They were making tools not "pretties" and efficiency makes survival a whole lot easier. Since this bow making for us is a hobby and not survival ya can go about it anyway that pleases you. The use of a power tool doesn't necessarily mean that you dont have a "feel" for what you are doing either. One of the true joys of any woodworking endeavor is the "hands-on" feel, but that doesn't mean that power tools are the devils seed either.
I think that you ought to go at it with the desire to do it......and use whatever ya got to get the job done. The real enjoyment is in the satisfaction of what ya made with your hands, not so much what the hands were holding when ya did it.
PS: The main diff between hand tools and power tools is that hand tools go to the work and require the hands to be off the stock, and power tools require ya to hold the stock and go to the tool, so for old cripled up people power tools allow for some enjoyment that hands tools would not allow, also a sharp hand tool can take wood off faster and cleaner than sander anyday. JMO
rich
